Snap Rowville hopes to slash its outsourcing by replacing offset with digital production after buying Australia’s first Fuji Xerox Versant 2100.

Franchise owner Gary Handel says the quality, reliability and cost effectiveness of the new digital printer means it could cover about 40 per cent of the print shop’s offset work it currently outsources.

“We can control costs better and have more options and better flexibility by having the one device in-house and outsourcing less, which will help the bottom line significantly,” he says.

[Related: More printers installing new kit]

He says Rowville will also be able to print on textured stocks and NCR for the first time, opening up other revenue streams.

The new printer will supersede a Fuji Xerox 5000 when it is installed in the next two weeks and will be joined by an Epson 7000 wide format printer that replaces an old HP machine.

While Snap outlets usually focus on short run digital work, Handel says the 2100’s lower click rate makes his business more competitive for higher-volume work.

“It is a tough market in the very competitive digital world, but printers are getting close to one cent per colour,” he says.

“We were thinking about upgrading our black and white machine but decided not to because the 2100 can do everything cost effectively.

“Black and white is a declining market so we did not want to invest more into it.”

Handel says as a ‘Xerox man for quite some time’ he chose the 2100 mostly on brand loyalty but was impressed with its reliability and quality and its ability to duplex, and its built in registration and self-alignment.

Fuji Xerox Australia franchises national sales manager Adam Fittler says his team worked closely with Snap Rowville to make sure the equipment could produce the applications and quality it was looking for.

The Versant 2100 delivers print speeds of up to 100ppm with auto perfecting stocks from 52gsm to 350gsm.

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